A bet on the ability of the public administration, at a central but above all local level, to transform and recover efficiency in the management of public resources, both European and national. This is the main message that can be gathered from the words of the European Commissioner for Regional Policies and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, and the Minister for the South, Mara Carfagna, on the occasion of the signing, in Rome, of the Partnership Agreement between the Italian government. and the European commission for the management of structural funds 2021-2027. This amounts to more than 75 billion euros, of which around 43 billion from the European contribution and the rest from national co-financing. A tens of billions more than in the 2014-2020 program, mainly thanks to the addition of the React-Eu fund, which will be distributed over 48 operational programs.
“Some of these are already being examined by the commission – recalled Ferreira – but we must tighten the times. We hope that they will all be approved by the end of the year ». If this does not happen, the new programming will start off on the wrong foot and the resources of the overdue programs will be cut. “Added to the resources of the NRP – underlined the commissioner – they bring total European investments in Italy to five times those of previous years”.
The commissioner “congratulated” Italy for the decision to increase the commitment on administrative capacity, one of the most discussed points of the Agreement in the six months of confrontation, at times complex, with relative delays, between the Department of cohesion policies in Rome and the Dg Regio in Brussels. But she urged the government to do more. “We need to strengthen administrative capacity, we need to accelerate in this direction. We must mobilize all the best energies in the country, which are many. And my thoughts go above all to young people, “said the commissioner. Almost € 1.3 billion is earmarked for the national Capacities for Cohesion program. “It is a symbolic decision which, however, indicates a substantial change in attitude.” It is no coincidence, therefore, that before the signing ceremony of the Agreement, Ferreira met the Minister for Public Administration, Renato Brunetta, with whom she discussed the reforms underway in the PA.
Ferreira underlined the desire to be present in Rome, in the midst of the government crisis, “to give a signal of confidence in the country”. And on a “personal” level, you expressed great esteem for Mario Draghi: «I believe that there are not many people in Europe who have the prestige and ability of Mario Draghi. As a European parliamentarian, I have never refrained from thanking Draghi for what he has done for Europe. He has always been very frank and timely. We hope that everything goes well for the stability of Italy ».
The Partnership Agreement has been simplified compared to that of 2014-2020, with 10 national programs that is 3 less than in 2014-2020 including the new Pon Salute, the Just transition fund for decarbonization projects in the Sulcis areas and of the former Ilva and of the medium-sized cities of the South included in the Metro program. In total, the national programs, managed by the ministries, between EU funds and state resources are worth 25.6 billion. The funds of the Por (operational programs managed by the Regions) instead amount to 48.5 billion. In the South, between EU funds and co-financing, a total of 47.9 billion.